Serbia blasts U.N. Kosovo statehood plan
By JOVANA GEC, Associated Press WriterSat Feb 17, 7:35 AM ET
Serbia is convinced that a U.N. plan granting supervised statehood for the contested Kosovo province stands no chance of approval at the U.N. Security Council where Serb ally Russia holds a veto, a government minister said Saturday.
Zoran Loncar also blasted the key architect of the plan, chief U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, as "biased and working in the interest of the (Kosovo) ethnic Albanians" who have sought to split the troubled region from Serbia.
"Not only Russia and China, but a great number of other countries are against taking away 15 percent of territory from a sovereign state and a member state of the United Nations," Loncar said. "It is unthinkable that the Security Council would violate basic principles of the U.N. Charter."
Loncar's comments come only days ahead of Serb-Albanian talks in Vienna, Austria, about Ahtisaari's Kosovo plan. The U.N. envoy has invited the two sides to put forward their complaints about the draft before it is submitted to the U.N. Security Council for a final vote.
The plan envisages internationally supervised self-rule for Kosovo and the trappings of statehood — such as a flag, anthem, army and constitution — while giving the minority Serbs more control over their day-to-day affairs.
The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have hailed the plan, but also have warned that they want full independence.
Ahtisaari this week has acknowledged that chances of an agreement at the Vienna talks were slim, with the two sides firmly in their positions.
Russia has said it was against any solution that falls short of a compromise. On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as warning that Kosovo independence would have "the most negative consequences," and that Moscow could block the plan.
Although formally part of Serbia, Kosovo became an international protectorate in 1999, after a NATO bombing forced Belgrade to halt a crackdown against the ethnic Albanian separatists and relinquish control.